How do American military-industrial enterprises play with "war economics"?
2024-08-17
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"War economics" means making money through war. In this regard, no one in the world is better at this concept than the US military industry. Here are two recent cases:
At the sensitive moment when the Ukrainian army raided Russia's Kursk region, the United States announced a new military aid plan worth $125 million to Ukraine. Then, at the critical moment of the new round of Doha negotiations on the ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the US government approved a new round of arms sales to Israel worth about $20 billion.
Screenshot of CNN report
Driven by the interests of the military-industrial complex, the United States has continuously created wars and conflicts around the world, bringing severe disasters to many countries and regions.
"Military tension is conducive to the growth of military spending"
The new round of Israeli-Palestinian conflict has lasted for more than 10 months, and more than 40,000 people have died in the Gaza Strip due to Israeli military operations. At the same time, the United States continues to provide military aid to Israel, driving the profits of major American arms dealers to soar and orders to a new high.
With the support of the US government, US military giants have continuously provided weapons and ammunition to Israel. In its military operations in Gaza and other places, the Israeli Air Force has used a large number of air-to-ground missiles produced by Raytheon Technologies, small diameter bombs produced by Boeing, and joint direct attack munitions kits.
Kara Abercrombie, acting deputy secretary of defense for policy, said that since fiscal year 2024, the total amount of U.S. arms sales abroad has exceeded $80 billion, which is higher than the total amount of foreign arms sales in fiscal year 2023 and more than $30 billion higher than in fiscal year 2022. Abercrombie predicts that this figure will continue to rise.
Screenshot of the report from the US Defense News website
Let’s look at another crisis: the benefits that the Russia-Ukraine conflict has brought to the United States.
From the HIMARS long-range rocket launcher system to the recent F-16 fighter jets, war equipment is constantly being sent to the battlefield, and American arms dealers are making huge profits from the Ukrainian crisis and reaping the wealth of war.
Data shows that in 2023, Lockheed Martin's annual revenue reached US$67.6 billion and its net profit was US$6.9 billion; Raytheon Technologies' annual revenue was US$68.9 billion, an increase of 2.8% over 2022; another military giant, Boeing, was accused of fraud and questioned due to a series of security scandals last year, but its revenue in 2023 was still as high as US$77.8 billion, an increase of 16.2% over 2022.
Screenshot of Lockheed Martin's official website
American economist Jeffrey Sachs bluntly stated that US government officials have not yet explained the real purpose of provoking the Ukrainian crisis - which is to promote arms sales.
“American diplomats warned that if the military-industrial complex continued to press for NATO expansion into Ukraine, it would provoke war. But they never told the American people that, and to this day, they have not explained the real purpose of provoking the Ukraine crisis - which is to promote arms sales. Even though the risks were fully understood within the US government.”
America’s foreign policymaking has been hijacked by the military-industrial complex
An analysis by an American think tank pointed out that while partisan disputes and political hatred affect almost every presidential election debate, the extravagant and inefficient defense policy has become a clear exception. This is because the military-industrial complex is not affected by parties. They donate to candidates and lobbying groups of both parties, and these candidates later vote to increase the Pentagon budget and implement arms projects, while lobbying groups and media sponsored by military-industrial enterprises will create public opinion support for arms projects.
In an interview with the U.S. media, Hayes, chairman and CEO of the U.S. military giant Raytheon Technologies, bluntly stated that 80% of the U.S. aid to Ukraine is used to produce weapons and equipment in the United States to supply Ukraine. Military aid to Ukraine is equivalent to providing jobs for Americans, which is beneficial to all members of Congress representing local constituencies.
“We make no apologies for making these weapons... The fact is that we will eventually see some benefits in this business over time. Certainly all of the weapons that are shipped to Ukraine today are drawn from the stockpiles of the Ministry of Defense or NATO allies, and that’s all good news. Eventually we have to replenish our stockpiles, and we will see the benefits of these operations over the next few years.”
Screenshot of the official website of the US think tank Quincy Institute for Statecraft
In fact, in addition to the lobbying of arms dealers, collusion between officials and businessmen in the procurement process is not uncommon, and sky-high purchases are constantly exposed.
At the US fiscal year 2025 military budget hearing held in April this year, Florida Congressman Mike Waltz directly questioned Air Force Secretary Kendall about military spending. Waltz took out a bag of insulated connectors and said that the parts in this bag did not have much technical content, but the price on the US Air Force procurement list was as high as $90,000. Waltz accused the Pentagon of only buying commercial parts from original equipment manufacturers, which is bankrupting the US government!
Screenshot of the British Daily Mail report
In this incident, Waltz's move not only draws attention to the rationality of military spending, but also challenges the transparency and supervision of the entire US military procurement system.
Some analysts believe that the drawbacks of the "single procurement" model adopted by the US military have become further highlighted, leading to increasingly serious waste and corruption within the military.
Dimitri Diliani, an official of the Palestinian Liberation Organization (Fatah), said in an interview with Russia Today TV that while the US military-industrial complex is fueling the conflict and reaping profits, the people of the Gaza Strip and the United States are paying a heavy price for it.
"Everyone in the profit chain is profiting. White House officials can get political donations from Jewish lobbying groups and military-industrial complexes, and Jewish lobbying groups serve Israel's interests, even though this sometimes conflicts with the United States' own interests. But American weapons manufacturing companies are also making money, so everyone is making money. And who will pay the price? American taxpayers, whose money is exchanged for weapons, and Palestinian civilians, women and children are being bombed, so this bloody circle of interests is notorious."
William Hartung, a senior fellow at the Quincy Institute for Statecraft, a U.S. think tank, wrote that the United States' foreign policy decisions have been largely hijacked by the military-industrial complex, which is using regional conflicts to drive a frenzy of military exports.
The official website of the American think tank "Quincy Institute for Statecraft": As large weapons companies and their executives make a fortune, the United States will be involved in more costly foreign military conflicts.
These facts once again confirm the warning issued by US President Eisenhower in his farewell speech in 1961: We must be vigilant against the "undue influence" that the military-industrial complex has gained intentionally or unintentionally in government agencies. In fact, every US president since Eisenhower has failed to stop the expansion of the "beast" of the military-industrial complex.
Screenshot of the National Archives and Records Administration website
Source: Global Information Radio "Global In-depth Observation"
Reporter: Huang Tao
